Where is Chernobyl in Ukraine and what happened there?

With the conflict between Russia and Ukraine reaching new levels of aggression, concerns over Chernobyl have been raised by the Ukrainian interior ministry.

The area is home to a former nuclear power plant which was the site of a nuclear disaster that resulted in a high loss of life and severe damage to the environment.

It is believed Russian forces have now entered Chernobyl and are trying to seize the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter that “our defenders are giving their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated”.

He added that “this is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe”.

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NBC's Richard Engel tweeted this afternoon: "Advisor to Ukrainian interior ministry says Russian forces entered Chernobyl and that fighting there destroyed a nuclear waste storage facility."

But a clarification was soon added due to a mistranslation - he added shortly after: "Clarifying: advisor says heaving fighting MAY disturb nuclear waste."

The name Chernobyl has become synonymous with nuclear disaster.

In 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat experienced an accident that would later be considered one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.

An issue with the plant's reactor left it in an unstable condition which eventually led to an explosion resulting in huge amounts of radiation emanating from within the plant and polluting the surrounding area.

The effects of the disaster can still be seen today with some experts suggesting that an excess number of cancer deaths were a direct result of the incident.

It is roughly estimated that the radiation lingering after the incident will